‘The Walking Dead’: 5 Characters Who Should Have Already Died

The end of The Walking DeadSeason 6 brought us Negan (at last!) and with him, his trusty weapon, Lucille. But Season 6 also found some viewers questioning the show’s forward progression. Where can The Walking Dead move from here? Will it go beyond its customary habit of introducing a menacing bad guy entrenched in a self-sustaining village? Perhaps what The Walking Dead fans are looking for is: a light at the end of the tunnel; a beacon they can hold on to, to begin to see how the show may end.

Just recently, Game of Thrones — which also just finished its sixth season — may have done exactly that (i.e., Bran’s flashbacks with the Three-Eyed Raven). Is it too lofty a question to ask when showrunners Robert Kirkman and Scott M. Gimple will reintroduce the CDC plot line? Or, when will they shepherd our beloved characters inside the capital, or the Pentagon, to get some real answers/antidotes?

While they wrestle with those largely existential questions, fans will still have a few months to ponder, to tweet, and provide some pretty sophisticated fan theories (did Abraham get the bat? Daryl?). [Update, 10/24/16: To find out who died in the Season 7 premiere, click here.]

Before we know who was killed by Lucille, though, we can discuss some people that need to be killed off. And let’s take it a step further: Who should have been bitten or offed ages ago on The Walking Dead?

We’ll discuss five characters.

1. Dwight (Austin Amelio), Soldier Leader of the Saviors

We first meet Dwight in “Always Accountable,” where he and a small group of a dissenters encounter Daryl in a burnt forest. Dwight believes Daryl to be a part of the group he had just fled. So, when Wade and his men come to retrieve supplies that Dwight and the others took, he puts up a fight. Daryl helps in this endeavor, even returning with supplies so Dwight’s diabetic friend could be tended to. It is here where we meet Wade, leader of the search party after Dwight. Ultimately, after a short standoff in the forest, Daryl, Dwight, and the females he’s with retreat to their hideout. Dwight pulls a gun on Daryl, steals his crossbow, and takes his motorcycle.

In “Twice as Far,” Dwight reemerges with a half-burnt face. With Dary’ls crossbow, he kills Alexandria’s “doctor,” Denise (shooting her through the eyes). He’s also responsible for kidnapping Eugene. Dwight demands to be taken back to Alexandria, but Daryl refuses, saying he should have killed Dwight when he had the chance, in the forest. Eugene then bites Dwight’s crotch, and Abraham pops out of the woods, initiating a firefight between the two groups. But Dwight lives, and escapes. In “East,” Dwight appears again, capturing Glenn and Michonne, using them to get to Daryl and Rosita. Then in a moment that had fans holding their breath, Dwight shoots Daryl in the back, saying, “You’ll be alright.” In “The Last Day on Earth,” Dwight delivers his prize — our beloved characters — to Negan. In Season 7, he’s got to go. (Although there is a strange twist in the comics.)

2. Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs)

Surprised? We’ve all seen Carl grow up onscreen, from his time with Lori, to getting shot and rushed to Hershel’s farm, to being shot again in Season 6. That last time was at the hands of Ron, the punk son of Jessie Anderson (who is also killed off with her son, Sam, amid the chaos of Alexandria being overrun). Needless to say, Carl’s nine lives may be nearing completion. We’ve warmed up to him as an eye patch-wearing gunslinger, but his teen angst and whiny streaks means, sadly enough, that he’s an expendable character. Sorry, Rick, but perhaps Carl’s time is up in this apocalyptic world.

3. Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride)

Carol Peletier | Source: AMC

Are you sufficiently shocked yet? Yes, Carol earns a spot on this list, but only because her time (and she knows it too) with the group has run its course. She’s provided all the help she can; she’s surprised the group’s leader enough; she’s even teased enough men (poor Tobin; Daryl, though, he can fend for himself). On multiple occasions, she’s been shunned, exiled. In the end of Season 6, it’s a self-exile that riles up the Alexandrian community. This is something that Morgan, Daryl, and even Rick cannot quite handle. Morgan and Rick even make a valiant attempt to track her down. It’s Morgan that’s successful though — he who is her longtime (quasi) enemy.

Oh, there’s one more thing: She’s also been shot twice by a mortally wounded Savior. (This is the man that found her prayer beads and walked through the fields and desolate streets to see her killed.) It seems like she’s only been shot in the legs, which means it’s survivable, but perhaps she must truly be left to fend for herself. The men that she and Morgan met in the final episode (more like paladins) may be able to save her, but let’s not jump the gun. Maybe, since Morgan has already pulled the trigger, he won’t feel so bad about dispensing the one-time fan favorite Carol. She may even beg Morgan to do it. Now it’s truly twisted!

4. Spencer Monroe (Austin Nichols)

Deanna’s only surviving son, Spencer, is most definitely an expendable character. He doesn’t truly fit in the larger arc of the series. He is, instead, a stopgap, needed to plug potentially digressive periods of time for our main characters while nestled in the comfy Alexandrian homes. Sure, there’s an emotional story connected to him: Can the son of the village leader overcome his time of inaction and inactivity inside the walls of Alexandria and ultimately become a soldier of the apocalypse? Does he have what it takes to harden up? (Insert clever pun here about his fling with Rosita.)

The bottom line is this: Spencer Monroe can go, in Season 7, episode 1, and we may not even feel too upset. Will there be a void left behind? Would there be shoes to fill? Perhaps if Deanna was still around she’d think so. But, Spencer — while moderately admirable with his guarding work now — is not long for this apocalyptic world.

5. Gregory (Xander Berkeley)

Gregory is the leader of the Hilltop community, a place long tormented by Negan’s Saviors. Gregory has a reluctant agreement in place with the Saviors to provide them with a large cut of what the community produces. Enter: the Alexandrians (we can call Rick and company Alexandrians now, can we not?). This is when fans truly get to meet Gregory, a pompous, arrogant, and flirtatious leader who has a fragile system in place at Hilltop. Maggie is sent to negotiate with Gregory (thanks to “Jesus”). He proceeds to interrupt her and mock her as she asks for supplies. He insists that they do labor-related work for Hilltop.

Then, Gregory’s “big moment” ensues. He is stabbed by his own man, who has returned from visiting the Saviors, with a message. This man, Ethan, says that’s he’s sorry and the knife wound he was about to deliver to the leader’s stomach was from Negan himself.

Later, while Gregory recovers, a frustrated Maggie eventually makes her demands, saying that for half of the village’s supplies, they’ll handle the Saviors. His hands are somewhat tied; he agrees. Let’s just say that in Season 7, we would not be upset if Mr. Gregory was axed. That means Jesus could be the leader of Hilltop!